Pluralised Beliefs or Disbelieving Worldviews? Chinese Educational Migrants in the Global Space

Post-Christian countries such as Britain have witnessed the rise of disbelief in God(s) and the decrease in institutional religious identifications. Understanding atheism in this context is often associated with theories and practices of modern secularisation. However, little has been explored from a global and educational perspective.

How do Chinese educational migrants tell their stories regarding belief and disbeliefs in God(s)? This article teases out ways in which methodological nationalism serves as an epistemic colonial legacy to obscure, not only knowledge about Chinese beliefs, but also knowledge about contemporary disbelief in the global context. By centring the discussion on sensemaking narratives of Chinese educational migrants in the UK, this article moves beyond state Marxism to understand Chinese adulthood worldview changes to seemingly opposite directions; exemplifying both those who become religious, especially via a universalist evangelical Christian appeal, and those who display disbeliefs in the form of atheism or disinterest. Findings point to a shared commitment to science and scientism, perhaps unique to this highly-educated migratory group, and varying interests in interpersonal justice, each producing an effect on beliefs and disbelieving worldviews. Conclusions feature three interlocking facets of this research; a global space that quintessentially appears ‘western’, a minoritised racial group in white-majority anglophone countries that is nevertheless of a considerably large community, and the effects of education and mobility that cast a long shadow of belief and disbeliefs within this community.